dell

Dell has launched its latest XPS all-in-one desktop, refreshing the XPS One 27 and including a touchscreen for navigating Windows 8. Targeted both at domestic and business users, the One 27 runs at Quad HD 2560 x 1440 resolution with 3.7m pixels, and - with Dell disagreeing strongly with Apple's hands-on approach for AIOs - allows you to page through Windows without using a keyboard or mouse.

Dell announced today that its profits in the second quarter of its fiscal year fell 18% from the year before, landing at $732 million and prompting an after hours stock price dip. At the time of this writing, Dell's stock is down by 4.28% to $11.81 after hours, with the stock finishing the regular trading day at $12.34, only a 1.75% decrease. The Wall Street Journal reports that Dell's sinking profits come from the computer manufacturer's struggles with a consumer base that is increasingly opting for mobile devices while they decide to wait on PC purchases.

Dell has been due for a refresh of its flagship 27-inch UltraSharp monitor, and it looks like an updated model has finally made an appearance on the company’s Japanese website. The U2713HM features the same 2560x1440 resolution as the U2711, but Dell has opted to use the newer AH-IPS (Advanced High Performance IPS) technology. The benefits of AH-IPS include improved color accuracy as well as more efficient light transmission, ultimately leading to a more power efficient display.

Apple took top spot in worldwide PC shipments in Q2 2012, according to one research firm, making up almost 20-percent alone when tablets are lumped in with desktops and notebooks. Year-on-year growth for the Mac and iPad maker reached almost 60-percent to more than 21m units for the three month period, Canalys calculates, comfortably exceeding HP, Lenovo, Acer and Dell.

Dell has outed a range of new Precision mobile workstations, billed as the world's most powerful and yet delivering all-day battery life and slotting into the 17-inch segment which Apple recently abandoned. The new Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 pack 15- and 17-inch displays respectively and use Intel Core i5, i7 and Extreme Edition processors paired with a choice of NVIDIA Quadro K-series and AMD FirePro graphics. Down the line there'll be optional multitouch, too.

Dell is reportedly jockeying to join the Windows RT tablet club, petitioning Microsoft to take HP's spot in the strictly-controlled roster of companies permitted to create ARM-based Windows slates. With HP dropping out of RT development in favor of focusing on Windows 8 models instead, Dell is in talks to replace it, the China Times reports, seemingly confirming previous reports that Microsoft is putting a six-company limit on who can build one of the first wave of Windows RT tablet models (including its own Surface).

After the initial unveiling of Dell’s Project Sputnik developer laptops back in May, the company announced today that the first Sputnik laptop will be out this fall. The first laptop will be a special version of the Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS “Precise Pangolin” preloaded onto it, and hopes are that it will provide an ideal platform for developers so that they can easily create cloud applications.

Dell has today announced that it will be purchasing Quest, a company that provides IT management software for businesses. Dell looks to be stocking up on software solutions in order to differentiate itself from its competitors and add to a growing patent portfolio. The acquisition of Quest means that Dell will be able to expands its software to in systems management, security, data protection, and workspace management.

If you’re a fan of Dell’s XPS 13 but want something a little bigger with extra connectivity, the newly announced XPS 14 and 15 might just be for you. Both laptops have seen a redesign that sees the chassis’ making use of aluminium while giving the models a much needed thinner profile, and you can expect to see the latest internals with Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and optional discrete NVIDIA graphics.

This week we've been blessed with another look at the most colorful-keyed and unique looking gaming notebook in the Alienware M17X R4, this time complete with Ivy Bridge. This beast works with a quad-core 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 processor, 28nm NVIDIAGeForce GTX 680M GPU, and a lovely 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 display up front of an extremely thick chassis. This beast is marked by its power as much as it is its ability to have its all-over lighting customized.

Details of Dell's upcoming Windows tablet pair continue to leak out, with the latest talk suggesting the Latitude 10 Windows 8 model due in mid-November will be preceded by a Windows RT version. The Dell Latitude 10 launch will bring a new docking station with extra ports and charging, according to Neowin's source, while the Windows-on-ARM tablet - name currently unknown - is tipped to arrive in October.